John Parkinson, Dean of the College of Human Sciences and Professor of Behavioural Psychology at È«Ãñ²ÊƱ, is part of a group advising the Welsh Government on behavioural science through the pandemic and beyond.
Most recently, the group submitted a report following observation of pilot events in Wales, to inform and support the government during the broader 'reopening' process. The group also offered advice on behavioural aspects around the First Minister's recently announced , as Wales took the next steps towards a future with fewer Covid restrictions.
In his role as expert scientist on the Risk Communication and Behavioural Insights Group set up as part of the Covid response, John Parkinson has been providing input based on his academic track record on motivation and behaviour. The group have written several reports which have been submitted to Government feeding in to the broader covid response.
John said, "We've collectively gone through, and are still going through, a period of considerable disruption and change to our everyday lives as we try and deal with the coronavirus pandemic. This ranges from dealing with seemingly ever-changing regulations, and the need to process information from many different sources and directions, including family and friends, and social and traditional media.
"My role as a behavioural psychologist is to advise the Government about how best to communicate the risks the public face, as well as how we can support people to make dynamic situational decisions. In other words, making judgements about what behaviours are safe and what aren’t in different situations as people go about their day to day lives. What behavioural science has taught us is that much of our social behaviour is driven by unconscious processes, such as copying what other people are doing as a quick and simple way to determine what we should be doing. This can lead to an ‘Intention – action gap’ whereby we set out with the intention of practising covid-safe behaviours but end up failing to do so because of situational factors.
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